Cyclones gain their energy from the heat and moisture generated from warm ocean surfaces.This year, theBay of Bengalhas posted record summer temperatures.Researchers have said this is a fall-out of global warming from fossil fuel emissions that has been heating up oceans.

The life cycle of a tropical cyclone can last from a few days to as long as three weeks.Thisdepends on the heat energy gathered from its sourcethe ocean.

Tropical cyclones are known by various names - such ashurricanes and typhoons -in different parts of the world.

Tropical cyclones in the seas are a typical feature of the summer months and play a role in aiding the arrival of the monsoon.But warming around India is no longerrestricted to just theBay of Bengalbut also the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean.

This makes storm prediction less reliable as well as disrupting monsoon patterns.Meteorologists say the worst places for storm surges tend to be shallow, concave bays. In these bays, water, pushed by the strong winds of a tropical cyclone, gets concentrated or funneled as the storm moves up the bay.

Only a handful of storms in the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal achieve the level of super cyclone, about one occurs every 10 years.

According to a list maintained by Weather Underground, 26 of the 35 deadliest tropical cyclones recorded have occurredin theBay of Bengal .

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